Variety peckii occurs from Steens Mountain and the Pueblo Mountains of Harney County, Oregon, south to the Black Rock Range and Jackson Mountains of Humboldt County, Nevada. On the lower portion of its distribution along Steens Mountain Loop Road at an elevation of about 1900 m, var. peckii and Cirsiuminamoenum grow together and freely hybridize, forming a complex hybrid swarm. Intermediates variably combine the features of the parent taxa, with the habit more openly branched than typical for C. eatonii var. peckii, variably arachnoid tomentose leaves, ± glandular phyllaries, and lavender to pale pink flowers. Variety peckii may range as far south as the West Humboldt Mountains. The type of Cirsium humboldtense Rydberg (Carduus nevadensis Greene) closely resembles some of the hybrids between C. inamoenum and C.eatonii var. peckii.